


Lockdown

by RayByAnotherName



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alone Together, F/F, Quarantine, RWBY Rarepair Mini Event 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24070600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayByAnotherName/pseuds/RayByAnotherName
Summary: Coco, Weiss, Ilia, and Penny are stuck in their apartment together when Atlas institutes a lockdown for the pandemic. As is the case with many roommates who never planned to spend this much time together arguments, and romance, ensue.
Relationships: Background Weiss Schnee/Ilia Amitola, Coco Adel/Penny Polendina
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> To be extra clear here: This is directly inspired by he Covid-19 situation going on right now. There is no subtly in my references in this fic to living in lock down.

Atlas was of two camps about the virus – keep everything going as normal for the economy OR stop everything immediately and institute martial law. Weiss had heard both of the opinions constantly since the start of the outbreak had hit Mistral - one from her father and the other from her sister. Her personal opinion was that she didn’t give a damn as long as the city picked one! That didn’t work out quite the way she was expecting.

“General Ironwood just shut down the city.” Coco’s statement cut through the noise of all three of her roommates’ evening routines. 

Penny’s eyes opened comically wide, “W-what’s that mean?!” 

“It means we’re to shelter in place unless we’re an essential worker,” Coco continued reading her scroll. Her eyes were narrowing with every word. “None of us qualify.” 

Weiss shrugged and started for her room, “I’ll pack a bag to go stay with my sister then.” She didn’t even reach the door before she heard Ilia snort. 

“Nice try, princess,” Ilia drawled, but she held up her scroll. The same notice that Coco was reading was displayed on her screen. In big, block letters at the top were the words Effective Immediately.

“Well…” Penny sighed and then forced her spine straight with a bright smile, “We’ll just have to make the most of it then!” 

Coco’s eyes rose from her scroll. She looked first at Ilia and then at Weiss, finally she landed on Penny. She raised a brow, “Twenty credits someone dies within the first week.” 

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Penny chuckled nervously, hands moving up in front of her stomach for her to fidget with her fingers. Coco smiled at the gesture before her eyes slid to her other two roommates. Weiss and Ilia were facing each other, arms crossed and glares in place. 

Perhaps a week had been too generous… 

-.-.-

There are a lot of factors that go into selecting roommates when you move into an apartment. Coco had not considered forced isolation together when interviewing candidates. She’d picked Weiss for her neatness, Ilia had been Velvet and Blake’s friend, and Penny had come with a recommendation from General Ironwood himself. 

“It’s not that hard!” Weiss screamed as she threw an empty toilet paper roll at Ilia’s head. Coco lowered her scroll, but did not move her legs from where they were tucked beneath her on the couch. This was the third argument of the day. Coco’s brow was already twitching. 

“Then do it yourself!” Ilia snapped back. Her hands were fisted at her side and Coco watched them twitch at Weiss scoffed. “What? Is the high and mighty Schnee heiress too good to handle a toilet paper roll?” 

Coco looked at her scroll and thumbed a quick text. Penny responded in a matter of seconds. Coco closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer to the brothers before clearing her throat. Ilia and Weiss both turned to glare at her. “Penny just parked. Get the disinfectant spray and rags.” She stood from the couch and leveled them both with her own glare, “Or do you two need more time to continue discussing which direction the toilet paper roll goes?” 

“Sorry,” Weiss turned on the balls of her feet and marched off to the cabinet of cleaners. Ilia grumbled under her breath, but cleared the dining room table. Coco took a breath and then opened their front door. 

Penny was standing on the other side, mask in place and arms loaded with grocery bags. Her head was tilted to one side and Coco could already tell that she was smiling sympathetically. “I haven’t killed them yet,” Coco reassured her as she stepped back to let Penny enter. 

The bags were placed on the table swiftly and then Penny went to wash her hands. Coco closed the door. Weiss was methodically cleaning all of the groceries, from bag to wrapper to container. As she finished each item it was placed in a designated clean spot. Ilia would then put them away. This activity required no talking or interacting between the two and, as such, was the only activity that didn’t instigate an argument. 

“So!” Penny popped up beside Coco in fresh clothes, sans mask, and smelling faintly of motor oil. “How were things while I was gone?” Coco dropped her head back and to the side. Even without her heels Coco was forced to look down at the ginger. She did so with as blank as expression as she could manage. It was often difficult to keep such a face when looking at Penny. “That bad?” 

“Three arguments,” Coco held up three fingers and grimaced, “I swear, I’m going to lock them in a room soon and let them kill each other.” 

Penny chuckled, a blush rising on her cheeks, “I don’t think they’d kill each other.” She averted her eyes as Coco straightened beside her. 

“What?” The word came out much deeper than Coco wanted. Her voice cracked slightly and her eyes drifted lower over Penny’s now fidgeting form. A hand was rubbing nervously at her elbow and Coco was transfixed by the movement. 

“You know…” Penny looked over at their – blessedly silent – roommates and then back at Coco. She attempted to wiggle her brows suggestively, but the resulting facial expression was much closer to shock, “Opposites attract and all that.” 

Coco turned to look at Ilia and Weiss. Ilia snatched a package of toilet paper out of the clean zone with excessive force. The tension snapped up Weiss’s body and she set the next item down with a loud bang. 

“I’ll take you word for it,” Coco drawled and looked at Penny from the corner of her eye. The other woman shrugged and rocked backwards on her heels. “How were the stores?” The perpetual smile that Penny maintained better than Coco did sarcasm dropped like an anchor. “Nevermind.” 

-.-.-

Penny woke up to the sounds of panting and groaning. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she struggled into consciousness. She sat up, brow furrowed and nose scrunched up. And then the pieces fell into place. Penny didn’t spare a glance for the wall she shared with Ilia’s room before she abandoned her bed for the living room. 

“What are you doing up?” Coco’s voice startled Penny as she stepped into the common area. A lamp came on and Penny’s eyes quickly adjusted to see the brunette sitting on the couch, one hand rustling her hair. A book sat abandoned on the coffee table. 

“Uh…” Penny scratched the back of her head. Her face warmed. “Let’s just say I was right about Weiss and Ilia.” She averted her eyes as Coco froze mid-yawn.

Coco’s lips quirked up and she chuckled lightly, “It was probably too much to ask that they’d do that quietly at least huh?” Coco turned her head to crack her neck and then did the same with her back, twisting about on the couch before falling backwards into pillows. 

“Well…” Penny rocked backwards onto her heels, biting her bottom lip as attempted not to stare at Coco’s wiggling form, “…what are you doing out here?” 

The brunette shrugged, finally settling back with one arm draped across the back of the sofa and legs curled beneath her. “Sleep schedules are the first casualties of lockdown,” Coco nodded towards the television, “I was thinking of binging this new show Yatsu recommended, care to join?” She patted the couch beside her and winked at Penny, “I promise not to get fresh without your permission.”

Penny shuffled forward to take her seat. Her heart rate shot up as soon as she caught a whiff of the caramel coffee creamer that Coco had been mainlining since her access to lattes had dried up. She settled in beside her roommate, their knees knocking together as Coco pulled up a show on their television. 

After three hours Penny couldn’t tell you anything about the show they were watching – she was fairly positive there was time travel though – but she knew the exact cadence of Coco’s heartbeat. A couple began to confess their love for each other on screen and the beat shifted. 

“I should have known Yatsu would trick me into watching some soap opera,” Coco whispered into Penny’s ear with a breathy laugh. Penny’s ears felt like they were on fire as she glanced between the couple kissing on screen to Coco’s lithe body draped across the sofa like a quilt. She was leaning back against the armrest now, her feet propped up on the coffee table. The afghan that was usually wadded up somewhere in the living room was spread of her lap. Coco huffed dramatically, “He’s always liked the mushy bits.” 

“Mushy bits can be fun,” Penny’s giggle was almost hysterical. She was now overly aware of the fact that she and Coco were alone, together, on the same couch, Coco’s warm skin pressed against Penny’s knee. 

Coco snorted, she leaned forward, “Don’t go soft on me now, Polendina.” There was a twinkle to Coco’s dark brown eyes. They swirled a little like melted chocolate and Penny found herself swallowing as she stared into them. “We need to get through this lockdown with our genre preferences intact,” Coco’s lips pulled up into a smile as she spoke and Penny’s eyes fell to the puffy pink mounds now cracked and pale. Coco had run out of lip gloss and chap stick last week. 

“We should have a snack!” Penny popped up and off the couch. Coco raised a brow. “Marathons require snacks! That was Ruby and Yang’s number one rule when I lived in Vale.” Penny rushed into the kitchen, rambling about chips and popcorn and soda. Coco leaned back to watch her fret about the common area like a chicken with its head chopped off. 

“No sugar for you, Penny,” Coco stood up, stretching her arms above her head and then folded herself in half to touch her toes. She groaned as her lower back cracked loudly. 

In the kitchen Penny paused to look back at Coco with concern. Coco waved her off as she entered and began to rummage in the freezer behind the ginger. Penny stuck a bag of popcorn in the microwave. 

“Want a kiss?” Coco asked and Penny whipped her head around with a squeak. In her outstretched hand Coco held chocolate kisses. She grinned at Penny’s wide eyes and red cheeks, “I meant the chocolate, but if you’re interested…” 

“Thanks!” Penny took the chocolate and looked pointedly back at the microwave. She watched the popcorn bag grow with focus and determination. Her brow furrowed and her shoulders were stiff. 

Coco hopped up on the counter beside her, legs kicking out as she popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth. She eyed up Penny’s body, the tension and the curves, with a slow and calculating precision, “Hey Penny?” Penny shifted to look at her. Coco leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. 

Penny blinked when Coco quickly retreated, “Oh.” She blinked again. Her entire body turned to face Coco’s and her fingers began to fidget in her pajama shorts. “So…you weren’t kidding about…” Penny’s eyes bounced from Coco’s eyes to the floor, “…about the other sort of kiss.” 

“When do I kid?” Coco raised her arms out in an exaggerated shrug and laughed as Penny rolled her eyes. “I’m game if you are, Polendina.” Penny took a step closer to stand directly in front of Coco on the counter. Neither of them noticed when the microwave started to beep. 

-.-.-

Ilia emerged from her room groggy. Her hair fell into her face and her eyes remained closed as she shuffled into the kitchen in search of the breakfast Weiss had pushed her out of bed to fetch. The sound of the television pulled her attention into the living room. 

“Holy –” A grin spread over Ilia’s face as she rubbed at her eyes, not quite believing the sight before her. 

Curled up on the couch, legs intertwined, was Penny and Coco. The sarcastic and snappy insomniac that had long-lived in Coco’s body was cocooned in Penny’s arms, head resting gently on the shorter girl’s shoulder and hair plastered to her face. 

“What are you gaping at?” Weiss groaned as she appeared behind Ilia. She rested her chin on Ilia’s shoulder and the started when she finally noticed. “Oh no…”

“Oh yes…” Ilia smirked as she turned to look at Weiss, “Pay up, Schnee, it only took a month.”

**Author's Note:**

> I would just like to point out that I started this at 2am today (because procrastination) and just finished at *checks time* 11:57pm. So I wrote over 2000 words of fic today and am feeling SUPER productive. 10/10 Proud of myself and had to brag. 
> 
> Stay safe everybody!


End file.
